


Oceans Away

by c0cunt



Series: c0cunt's minifics [13]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Meeting In Person For The First Time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 23:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5805070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c0cunt/pseuds/c0cunt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annie pays one of her very dearest friends a visit.<br/>Prompt:  Ways to say "I love you" #18 - from very far away.</p><p>Simultaneously posted <a href="http://c0cunt.tumblr.com/post/137956129960">here</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Oceans Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OverMyFreckledBody](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverMyFreckledBody/gifts).



> (The country that Annie's from, and her first language, are intentionally ambiguous because I couldn't settle on where she and Reiner would be from for this fic.)

  It had been years since they had first met.  One of Mikasa’s last semesters of college was spent abroad in Annie’s country, and Annie had bumped into her while on her way to work.  Annie was constantly anxious about how her accent sounded to Mikasa, whose perfect English intimidated her (not that she would ever admit that out loud).  Most of their conversations after Mikasa returned to her country to finish her degree had been in text, and any Skype calls they had consisted of Annie sitting quietly while Mikasa chattered on.  Annie was constantly practicing her English though; reading was easy for her, but pronunciation was a bit more difficult for her, and her cousin Reiner listened to her work through it, completely disinterested but correcting her phrasing whenever he felt like it.  It’s just...Mikasa couldn’t hear it until she had it perfect.

 

  “Annie, why don’t you ever speak when I call you?”  Mikasa’s voice was a little distorted by the shitty mic and headphones that Annie had, but it was clearly frustrated.  Annie blinked before leaning forward to type, maybe an excuse about a sore throat on the tip of her fingers, and Mikasa snapped “No, don’t type to me!  Please, speak to me.”  Annie bit her lip hard, not looking at the screen as she thought of what to say.  Mikasa had had patience with her for almost four years, but she still felt a flutter of anxiety about speaking to her.  It wasn’t until Mikasa whispered “It’s okay, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” that Annie realized she had curled into an anxious ball, tears silently slipping down her face.  She swiped at them haphazardly, snarling at herself internally.

 

  “Sorry…”  Annie whispered, hoping her accent didn’t sound too thick on the word.  Mikasa immediately said “It’s fine, don’t worry,” but Annie could see the way her eyes lit up at her words, and she couldn’t help but feel guilty.  The call ended soon after that, and Annie couldn’t help but mumble “I love you” in the smallest voice she had, feeling utterly defeated.  Immediately berating herself, Annie texted Reiner to ask for a brutally honest opinion on how her English sounded.  (He texted back a thumbs up emoji, and nothing else.)  Annie did have money saved up, so she could...A very vague plan was forming in the back of her mind, and she grinned as she sent her first message to Mikasa’s brother.

 

* * *

 

  Three months, four planes, and who-the-fuck-knows how many hours later, and Annie was trudging like a zombie from her final plane, an hour away from her final destination.  As she grabbed her suitcase from the baggage claim thingy, all she wanted to do was go take a fucking nap.  But she had to find Eren, probably with a big, glittery sign like he had threatened her with.  And, yup, there he was, big glittery sign with “fuck you Leonhardt” in her language, and she couldn’t help but smile.  

 

  “Mikasa gets out when?”  Annie whispered as she joined Eren, who was leaning against a support column for no reason at all.  “She gets out in like, two hours, so we should get to her place just in time...Got everything you came with?”  Eren asked, offering to take her suitcase.  Annie nodded a few times, anxiously picking at her thumb nail, and silently following as Eren chattered on.  She made vague hums to show she was still listening, but mostly she tuned it out.  Would Mikasa be excited to see her?  It wasn’t until they were in the elevator to get to the parking garage that Annie realized she was literally vibrating with excitement, and she forced herself to calm down as they squished her suitcase into the trunk of Eren’s teeny tiny car.  Time dragged on, and they hit traffic just about halfway there, and if Eren’s prediction for when Mikasa would get back to her apartment was right, they only just barely beat her there.  Annie breathed the tiniest sigh of relief as they hurried inside, only for her breath to catch in her through.

 

  Mikasa had apparently gotten home early, and she was lounging on her couch (which was a lot tanner in person than Annie’s laptop depicted it as), one leg tumbling off the edge, with her arms thrown back behind her head lazily.  The TV was on, some sort of mindless game show, and Mikasa’s eyes had been fluttering shut before the door slammed behind Annie, courtesy of Eren.  Her eyes snapped open, slightly unfocused, as Eren continued jabbering on, not noticing that Mikasa was right there.  Annie nervously shuffled her feet when Mikasa focused on her, eyes dropping to the floor immediately.  There was the light sound of someone standing and movement, and suddenly Annie was encased in a fierce hug, nearly forcing the air out of her lungs.

 

  “Oh!  Mikasa, didn’t know you were home…”  Eren trailed off, rubbing the back of his head as he quickly inched his way out of the apartment, figuring they’d want some time alone.

  “How...When...What?”  Mikasa mumbled into Annie’s neck, and Annie couldn’t help a small laugh.  It was pretty nice to have orchestrated something behind Mikasa’s back; she was usually quicker than anyone else, and could spot something being hidden a mile away, but not this time.  Annie hugged her back, for who knows how long, before she finally answered.

 

  “Here for two weeks.  Can leave earlier if you don’t want me here,” She added, wincing at how her accent started out thicker when she started talking.  Mikasa loosened her death-grip on Annie to look at her face, eyes showing just how ecstatic she was at hearing Annie talk to her out loud, a shy smile curling at her lips.  “As if I would ever want you to leave,”  Mikasa scolded lightly, pulling her close again, thanking whatever higher power that was listening that she had almost three weeks of vacation time squirreled away.


End file.
